TVF: Cherry and Crimson
by roxypony
Summary: VALENTINE EDITION ENTRY FOR CarlisleCullenIsMyHomeboy12's VALENTINES CONTEST! Larten xx Arra. -WINNER!


**ENTRY FOR CARLISLECULLENISMYHOMEBOY12's VALENTINES DAY CONTEST :)**

* * *

Heey. so im a bitch for not updating in 2 weeks, but this thing called Driver's Ed has been eating all my after school hours, and what with homework and horsework, and all those new American Idol and Grey's Anatomy episodes, spare time is something that has been re-introduced to me as of yesterday.

i honestly dont know how good this fic is, as Ive never written Arra before in my life, and have very little romance writing experience. I thought about doing a random oneshot from book 6 or somthin, or a songfic, but they say Write What You Love, so I made it a TVF Valentine's Day Edition :) xo

OH, and i wote fake character e-mail adresses into this chap, but i kow from experience that the "at" sign does not always show up, so if you see something that doesnt make sense, thats probably what it is. mkk?

* * *

_Flashback to book 6. Arra survived. _

_Flashforward to present-day Vampire Mountain, TVF era._

_***_

"Darren, I cannot believe you have the nerve to copy my computer." Larten growled. "Of all the strange and shiny computers to choose from, you had to go and get one exactly like mine. Charna's Guts boy, you need to be independent for once in your life. "

Darren stared glumly at the bright red laptop he'd just unpacked. He the imitation would flatter his mentor, thus making him happy! Instead, he looked ready to kill. Although Darren suspected the computer wasn't to blame, Larten had been in a terrifying mood all week. And the pink sparkly "Valentimes Day" hearts Kurda kept taping to the walls certainly weren't helping the situation.

"I needed a new one, and this one was on sale!"

"There was nothing wrong with your old one." Larten snorted, making himself yet another coffee.

"You should have told Arrow that before he stepped on it!" Darren yelled back.

"You shouldn't leave stuff on the floor!" the bald prince yelled from inside the fridge, from where Harkat was passing him an armful of cookie dough.

"It wasn't on the floor, it was on the table!" Darren wailed. "And it's not even the same red as yours." he miserably informed Larten, setting the red laptops beside each other. "Mine's cherry, yours is crimson!"

"Insolent boy." Larten snarled, throwing his half-full coffee mug into the sink, snatching up his laptop and storming out of the kitchen.

Darren hopped up on the table stool and banged head on the table until he felt a poke. He looked up to see Harkat standing in front of him, holding out a handful of cookie dough.

"Here...this will...make it better."

"Thanks Harkat." Darren sighed miserably, munching the dough.

"Crepsley's bitchin'." Arrow remarked, taking a seat beside Darren.

"Yeah." Darren sniffled.

"Don't worry...about him. Let's play with...the new laptop!" Harkat suggested.

"Good idea." Darren agreed, plugging in and powering up. To his suprise, the screensaver was already set, to a large close-up photo of a spider.

"EBay must have known you like spiders." said Arrow curiously. "Or did you pre-set the background when you ordered it?"

"I didn't know you could do that, it must be a smart computer." Darren replied, clicking the mail icon to set up his e-mail. To his suprise, it seemed to be pre-set with all his contacts, plus more! Hib_, , .com, .com, des_, who are these people?

Then Darren read through them again. Then he read the home page's title:

**WELCOME BACK, !**

Darren felt a tingle of fear. He had Mr. Crepsley's laptop!

"Dude, you grabbed the wrong one!" Arrow laughed. "Quick, read his emails before he comes back."

"Cool!" Harkat agreed.

"Are you kidding?" Darren squeaked. "He'll kill me!"

"What are we doing?" Mika called, entering the kitchen, shaking pink glitter from his hair and punching at Kurda who had filled a salt shaker with said pink glitter.

"We wanna creep Crepsley's emails before he comes back, but Darren's a pansy."

"He's dead asleep, I just passed his room. He's snoring like a demon." Mika informed them.

"PUHLeeeeeeeazzzze Darren!" Kurda added.

"Okay, here we go." Darren sighed, clicking INBOX. Unfortunately, it appeared Larten had prepared for this sort of situation, and cleaned out his inbox, outbox, drafts, and deleted files.

"Officially lost interest." said Arrow, turning his full attention back to the cookie dough.

"He hasn't got any emails in EVER?" Kurda gasped in awe. This comment was ignored.

"Wait, I wanna see his contact list." Mika took over the mouse. "Dayumm, Arra has email? I can't believe he deleted everything, that would have been priceless."

"Omg, duuuude, I think we should totally email her and ask her to come over for Valentines Day so she and Mr Crepsley can go on a date!" Kurda chirped unexpectedly.

"Charna's Guts, no! He'd drop us in the pit of stakes, then bake our remains into Valentine cookies!" Darren gasped in horror.

"He couldn't do that to me, I'm a Prince." Arrow snorted. "Darren, maybe."

"Honestly, it's not the dumbest idea Kurda's ever come up with." Mika mused.

"I like it!" Harkat exclaimed, actually jumping up and down.

"Guys, no!" Darren hyperventilated. "He's crabby enough nowadays, this will make it even worse!"

Harkat smiled and passed Darren another hunk of cookie dough.

"I don't think...a little date...could hurt. It would be...good for...him."

"Everyone needs to be loved by someone. Even if it's only for a little while." Arrow added with a faraway look in his eyes.

"It would be sooooo cute. We could put up cupids and hearts and make them a romantic dinner and bake pink cookies." Kurda pleaded.

"Come on, Darren. Crabby Crepsley needs some love too." said Mika, giving Darren a poke in the shoulder.

"Okaayyy, we'll do it." Darren groaned. "But if he gets mad, this was NOT my idea! Here's the gameplan: we can't tell Paris, cuz he doesn't believe in keeping secrets from friends. And we can't tell Seba because...well we just won't tell Seba! Normally we wouldn't tell Kurda either, but this was his stupid idea, so."

"Yay! I already wrote the email!"

"Damn, Kurda. You should be a secretary. Let's see it."

"I sent it already!"

"But you saved it into the outbox, right?"

"Huh?"

"Oh great...I don't think I wanna know what it said anyway. She's gonna think Mr Crepsley's a fruit!" Darren yelped.

"Fruit is excellent for your figure. Strawberries are deff my fave." Kurda commented.

"Chill out and have more cookie dough." Arrow ordered. "It'll be fine."

Suddenly:

**You have (1) New Message from **

"Ohhhh damn, I don't wanna know! Someone tell me what it says!" Darren moaned, covering his eyes.

"It says,

_Hello My Beast!_

_I would LOVE to come for a Valentines visit ;) See you VERY soon._

_xo, Arra._

_PS. I love it when you type like a chick ;)_

See, Darren, I told you. This will be historic." said Mika with something that resembled an evil smile.

Darren let out a long, miserable sigh.

"Well, don't just sit there shovelling cookie dough, go put up some sparkly crap! Find a table and 2 chairs. Not ones from the basement, nice ones! And for the love of everything, we need a table cloth that is totally CLEAN, people! And it has to be white, no cheating and using one of the black ones. And someone tell me what the hell people eat on romantic dates! I changed my mind, get Paris and Seba in on this one. Use blackmail to keep quiet if you have to. We need all the Crepsley Experts we can get!"

Suddenly Darren felt his old seasonal spirit come alive, and he felt the same rejuvinating power he felt when planning a vacation, wedding, or Christmas festivities (at least the part before stuff went wrong).

"COME ON, MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" he suddenly screamed, jumping up and knocking his stool over.

"Maybe we'll make...a decaf for ...you next time." Harkat suggested.

***

"Paaaaris, how do you spell Larten Plus Arra Equals Love?" Kurda inquired. He was currently sprawled on the floor in the Hall of Princes and Valentine Dates, surrounded by pink and red construction paper, white lace, scissors, and sparkly gel pens. He was cutting out dozens upon dozens of little hearts, and painstakingly gluing lace around the edges. They looked like something made by a 10 year old girl. Pure cuteness.

"Don't write that, it's tacky." Paris instructed. "Just their initials is fine."

"Kaay. What are initials?"

"Or you could leave them blank. That would be ok too." Paris sighed, unable to believe the creature before him had almost been a Vampire Prince.

"That's complicated. Mikaaaa, how do you spell Larten?"

"Kurda, I thought you were the superstar speller. D-R-A-R-N spells Darren and F-O-I-L-D-R-D-A spells Florida, remember? You don't need our help." Mika commented from behind a huge statue of Cupid that he and Arrow had dug out of the basement.

"Well yeeeaahh but I never spelled Larten and Arra before!" the blonde whined.

"Give them to me, I have an excellent eye for calligraphy." said Paris, picking up the Valentines and the sparkly gel pens and proceeding to inscribe _Larten Crepsley + Arra Sails_, along with a different historic love quote for each one.

"Putrid pinky mushy ick!" Seba complained as he stuffed a bouquet of red roses into a vase. "When I was your age, this abominative holiday to was made to help with the baby-making of humans, us Vampires just-"

"That's enough, Seba." Paris reprimanded. "There is a child present!"

Darren snorted and unpacked a large box of white feathery wreaths left over from Christmas and tried to decide how to space them out around the walls.

"Darren, look what...we did!" Harkat yelled happily from across the Hall. Darren turned to see Arrow standing on a ladder with Harkat sitting on his shoulders. Above them was an arrangement of hundreds of roses, taped to the wall to form an interlocking _LC&AS4EVER_

"Nice one, Bro!" called Mika with a hint of good-natured sarcasm, giving Arrow the thumbs-up.

"If you squint at this angle, you can't see the tape." Paris added.

"That's great, Harkat, you want a cookie every time you do something right?" Darren snapped, echoing something that had once been said to him by his very own mentor. "You two, go find the table. Mika, go with them and bring back some chairs.

Harkat felt slightly hurt but understood Darren's stress, and exited the hall with Mika and Arrow in tow. The Little Person had never actually travelled to Vampire Mountain's rarely-discussed basement before. In this thrilling place, one could find various ancient and sometimes disturbing items from throughout the Mountain's history, as well as a few newer-fangled pieces. Almost anything you could ponder, it was down there. Of course it had long been forgotten when the concept of eBay was introduced.

"Welcome to the pit." Mika announced upon arrival in front of a very small closet set into the wall. He swung open the door, revealing...nothing. He stepped inside, reached to the floor, grabbed a little handle and pulled it upwards. Harkat gasped as a trapdoor appeared, complete with a ladder leading into the bottom of Vampire Mountain.

"How are we...supposed to find...a romantic table...in here?" Harkat gasped.

"Easy." Arrow answered. "We sent some noob Generals down here a few decades ago to categorize everything. It's a perfectly organized system, probably."

"Categorize it..._how_?" Harkat gasped. "There must be...half the world...in this basement!"

"Not really sure." Arrow scratched his head. "We just told them _categorize, _right Mika?"

"They looked smart, I figured they could handle it. But this doesn't really look categorized, does it?"

"No!" Harkat wailed. "Arra's gonna...be here...in 3 hours!"

"Don't panic. We can find a table somwhere upstairs." said Arrow, patting the Little Person's head.

"NO! Darren said...ROMANTIC TABLE! There aren't any...romantic tables...upstairs! We need a ROMANTIC TABLE!"

"Breathe, Mulds." said Mika. "And start looking."

***

"Okay, so the process is quite simple. Now that the cookies have cooled to a safe temperature, we-"

"Eat them!" said Seba.

"Count the calories?" guessed Kurda

"Ice them." Darren continued determinedly. "Here, you can clearly see the bowl of pink icing. We take the spoon, like so, and take a MEDIUM SIZED bit of icing, then we CAREFULLY pour it EVENLY on the cookie. When the pink layer is sufficiently hardened, take one of the tubes of RED icing, and CAREFULLY inscribe THIS design on each cookie." (he held up a diagram of an interlocking L&A.) "If you have any questions, PLEASE, don't hesitate to ask Paris."

"Darren!" the ancient prince protested.

Kurda lunged towards the icing eagarly, stabbed the spoon into the carnation-coloured depths, and shovelled a heaping pile of pink goo upon the poor unsuspecting cookie, then snatched up a tube of red sparkly paste, and scribbled L&A on the pink mountain about 9 times, then repeated the procedure for the next 6 cookies before Darren wrestled the equipment from his grip.

"Kurda, as of now, you are officially on confetti duty." Darren sighed in exasperation, passing him a bag of pinky-reddy-silvery-heart-shaped sparkles. Make sure the contents of this bag gets ALL over the Hall of Princes. "

Kurda's baby-blue eyes went huge.

"ALL over?"

"I never thought I'd say this, but yes, ALL over." Darren agreed. "GO!"

Once Kurda was dismissed to do the glittering shimmering sparkling deed, and Paris and Seba were doing a satisfactory job on the cookie decorating, Darren was free to go about the process of prefecting the two plates of medium-rare steaks he had prepared for the date. They were absolute works of art, done EXACTLY (of this he was 100 percent sure) the way Mr. Crepsley loved it. He added a tiny sprig of pepperment on top, and poured a bit of extra blood on the plate. Then, to be creative, he made a heart shape in it with barbecue sauce. Hell yes, right down to the barbecue sauce, everything was going to be absolutely flawless on the night of Larten Crepsley's Perfect Date.

***

Larten Crepsley's Perfect Date Night was flawed! Screwed! Effed! After all the preperations, confetti-spreading, cookie-constructing, feathery-wreath hanging, Valentine-making, and steak-liciousness, and now there was no freaken romantic table to put the stuff on. Or chairs.

"Did the basement eat Harkat Mika and Arrow?" Darren wailed, pacing the hall. "WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY! ITS NOT A DATE WITHOUT A ROMANTIC TABLE!"

"Shut up, Darren. I will not be able to hear if anyone steals the cookies." Seba took his task of bodyguarding the cookies incredibly seriously.

Darren opened his mouth to have a spazz at Seba, then he heard Paris' voice from the next hallway:

"Arra, dear, let me take your coat!"

"Thank you Paris. Damn, I missed this place...and I gotta say, the braids with pink ribbon really make your beard pop."

Darren bolted to the door, and peered out. Arra had indeed arrived. While she had his back to him, he mouthed to Paris: "NEED MORE TIME!"

Paris rolled his eyes and informed Arra he was going to show her the new water closet renovations. Darren bolted down the hall in the opposite direction, in desperate search of a table and chairs. And they WOULD be romantic, even if he had to colour them with pink sharpies. He paused at Kurda's room to grab 2 purple heart shaped pillows (ignoring the fact that the colour would totally clash), then snatched a few pearl necklaces and a feather boa. Maybe the white beedsheet would make a good tablecloth...handfuls of ribbons in every shade of pink and red imaginable...hot pink face cloths for napkins...and AS IF Kurda actually had novelty hot pink cutlery on top of his dresser. Possibly the most useful thing Kurda ever owned. Maybe he was phsycic. Those would definitley come in handy tonight...

With his stocking up complete. he booted it down to the kitchen to prepare the perfect table/chair combination that would melt the heart of Larten Crepsley.

Speaking of Larten...Darren had kinda forgotten him what with preparing his date and all...he seriously hoped his mentor would be in good enough spirits not to break his studen't neck before. during, or after the date. Maybe he wouldn't appreciate being set up after all. He was furious enough about the laptop issue...but there was no time to dread a painful death now, Arra was here and Paris could only show her the bathroom for so long. It was time for some serious Darren-Style Improvisational Skills. Duck tape the heart pillows to the kitchen chair seats, wrap the boa around the edge of the table (which was coffee table from the TV room), tie the ribbons all over the chairs, and last but not least, scrawl LARTEN + ARRA = FOREVER in the middle of the table.

Sweating, he stood back to admire his handiwork. Decent, if he did say so himself.

Now it was time for Darren and his artwork to walk straight into a situation that could potentially be his death.

_Kiss my ass, Valentines Day._

***

Darren had done a lot of running in his life. Catching Vampires, catching planes, etcetera. But he truly put 100 percent of his guts (or as much as possible while carrying romantic chairs and a table into the sprint to the Hall of Princes for the setting up of the most perfect date in Vampire History. Seba and Kurda were in charge of bringing the food in, so Darren could only pray it remained in one piece. However, he was intercepted before arrival, and smothered as a fuzzy heart-patterned blanket was wrapped around his face. Screaming soundlessly, he was carried for a bit (still holding the table and chairs) then dropped on a very hard floor. He ripped the blanket off, looked around and promptly screamed,

"WHAT THE HELL!"

"Shut up, the movie just started!" Seba screeched, throwing popcorn at Darren's face.

Darren let out a gasp of shock as he realised everyone was in fact tuned into a movie: on a flatscreen tv mounted on the wall, there was an aerial view of a large room...a table near the front...two figures sitting at the...oh dear.

"Who the hell decided to monitor the date on closed-circuit camera?" Darren groaned.

"Seba."

"Harkat."

"Kurda."

"Mika."

"Paris."

"No seriously." Darren sighed. "Who?"

"It might have been mine." Arrow yawned, scratching his head. "But don't lie, Shan. You'd give anything to watch this date."

Darren rolled his eyes. "So where's the audio?"

"Harkat told me this camera picked up sound."

"Paris told me...the sound system...was pre-installed...in this room!"

"Where did you put the security camera anyway?" Darren wondered.

"We taped it into the rose design we made on the wall." said Arrow with an evil grin. "It's wireless, so there's no cords."

"Slick." Darren admitted. "But if he finds out about this, he's dropping you on the stakes first."

"Shut up, I am trying to watch this abominative movie."

"They are soooooo cuuute!" Kurda gushed.

"HEY, where did their table come from?" Darren demanded suddenly, realising Larten and Arra were seated at a pink heart-shaped table.

"I told you...we'd find one." said Harkat. The table Darren reconstructed (for nothing, apparently) was also in the viewing room, and was being sat on by Mika and Arrow. Harkat and Kurda each had one of the chairs, Seba was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and Paris was leaning against the wall.

"How did dragging him out of his room go?" Darren inquired.

_*FLASHBACK 20 minutes*_

_Knock, knock._

_Creak._

_Extremely angry orange-haired Vampire._

_"CHARNA'S GUTS, HARKAT MULDS! YOU HAD BETTER HAVE AN EXORBIANTLY EXCELLENT REASON FOR WAKING ME! I SHOULD THROW YOU OFF THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR SUCH INSOLENCE! HOW DARE YOU-"_

_"You...are...needed...in...the...Hall...of...Princes." Harkat managed to gasp in absolute terror while staring up at the fiend before him._

_"YOU DARE ASK ME TO LEAVE MY CHAMBER? OF ALL THE RUDE AND OBNOXIOUS BEHAVIOR I HAVE ENDURED ALL MY YEARS, THIS IS BY FAR THE-"_

_"It...is...urgent...your...presence...has...been...requested...specifically." the little person hyperventilated._

_"Very well." Larten spat. "I shall go to Hall of Princes. But if this journey proves to be a waste of time, there will be SEVERE consequences."_

_*FLASHFORWARD several minutes*_

_Harkat stood back and watched as Larten entered the room...saw Arra sitting at the table smiling in the way only she could. Harkat could practically feel Larten's heart melting. For a moment, Harkat feared he would be subjected to "SEVERE consequences". But the tall, pale Vampire seemed to have forgotten his fury, and slowly walked towards her in a dreamlike state. Harkat let out a giggle of delight worthy of Kurda, and scampered up to the viewing room._

_*FLASHFORWARD TO PRESENT*_

"It went...just fine." Harkat declared.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Seba demanded.

"Pass the popcorn, he's making her laugh!" Arrow added.

"I just love her hair." Kurda sighed. "So casual but so glam. On date night you really should go for a soft curvy look, half up, so you look hawtt without trying, yknow?"

"Oh, we know."

"He's taking it rather well." Paris added.

"Blushing like hell, though." Arrow chuckled.

"Like you _wouldn't_ be." Mika snorted.

"Oh, he...would be." Harkat snickered.

"Now it looks like they're deep in conversation...but I can't read their lips from here." Paris groaned.

"Is he CRYING?"

"No, that's just a little tear of joy type thing."

"Nyaaaaawwwww!"

"Agreed."

"Ahhhh."

"OMG, OMG, OMG!"

"AS IF HE JUST KISSED HER ON THE CHEEK!"

"Cheek, Crepsley? Come on."

"Is he gonna do it again? He better do it again."

"No way he has the balls to do that again."

"AAHHH HE DID IT AGAIN!"

"ON THE LIPS!"

"ATTABOY CREPSLY!"

"FULL-ON MAKEOUT!"

"Arrow, that was rude."

"WAY TO MAN UP!"

Mika and Arrow jumped up, high-fived, hugged, and threw popcorn. Kurda hugged himself and wiped tears from his eyes. Paris smiled joyfully up at the TV. Seba muttered something about "stupid youngsters and their lovemaking. You don't see MY students pulling those antics." Harkat jumped for joy on his chair and gave Darren a massive hug. Darren found himself to be inexplicably tearing up profusely.

"Happy?" Harkat inquired with a grin.

"I love Valentine's Day!" Darren gasped before breaking down completely.

"I know...you do." Harkat agreed, patting his back. "Now get up and...watch the rest of...the date."

"I don't think I'm gonna." Darren sniffled. "I can just imagine it from here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you guys go for it, but I don't feel right creeping his date."

"Suit yourself...I understand, sorta" said Harkat with an expression of puzzlement.

Darren did indeed suit himself. With a smile on his face and the spirit of Valentine's Day in his heart, he sat on the chair he made, and proceeded to not spy on Mr. Crepsley's date, which he had no doubt in his mind was going absolutely perfectly.

***

Eventually, Darren convinced the gang of spies to leave the viewing room before the date concluded. It wasn't easy, he had to sacrifice the remainder of the pink icing to be eaten entirely at once, as well as promise to let them watch the video again sometime (it had since been burned onto a dvd.) But eventually everyone was tucked away in bed. It was a long, restless night for Darren, if the date had ended badly, he would hear about it. Even if the date ended well, he'd still heart about it, for going behind his mentor's back. Although technically it was entirely Kurda's fault, Larten would grill Darren first. He'd never missed a chance to capitalize on a "learning experience" and he probably wasn't going to start now. As long as someone was around to pull him off before Darren got overly pulverized.

A sudden knock on his door made him go "AH!"

"Come in!" he gulped, regaining composure, hoping it was Harkat. But there was only one Vampire in his gang who knew how to knock...

Larten Crepsley stepped into room.

The first sign that Darren's death was not imminent was that he was carrying 2 mugs of hot chocolate. The second was that his facial expression seemed peaceful...almost _happy_.

"Hello, Darren." the pale orange-haired Vampire greeted with an awkward sort of smile.

"Hi Mr. Crepsley." Darren squeaked as though nothing had happened.

Larten slowly sat down on the foot of his student's bed.

"Arra came for a visit, did you know?"

"I thought I heard her, um, talking."

"We had a dinner, it was very pleasant."

"Really!"

"Yes, in fact someone even took the time to set up the Hall of Princes in a decorative atmosphere. How kind."

"Very kind."

"Do you know anything about this, Darren?"

"No! I mean...no! I mean...it was Kurda's idea mostly, I just helped decorated the Hall and made the food and tried to make the table and chairs but then Harkat Arrow and Mika found the actual table and chairs, but it was really Kurda's idea..." he nervously muttered his way into silence and pulled his blanket up to his nose.

"Darren, are you being modest? Because if you are-" Larten scolded.

"No, I honestly didn't plan this one, I swear!"

"Let me finish. Because if you are, then-"

"I'll never do it again!"

"Charna's Guts, boy. I was going to say, do not be modest, young Shan. Be proud. Because tonight you have made an old Vampire the happiest he's been in decades."

Darren processed that for a moment, taking a long drink of hot chocolate (with pink whipped cream.)

"So, I get to live-I mean, you're not angry?"

"Why on earth would I be angry?" the mentor looked momentarily concerned, then sheepish. "I suppose I have been...extremely difficult throughout these months. This time of year reminds me of Arra, and how unhappy I have been in the past, indirectly due to my affiliation with her, although not because of her herself."

"Aight." Darren commented, not entirely sure what that one meant.

"I suppose what I mean to say, is I have been going through a slight depression, a-what do you humans call it? A possible Midlife Crisis situation? But this night has made a definite impact on my mood, and Darren Shan, I wish to extend gratitude from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done, because Kurda's plan it may have been, I have no doubt it could not have been pulled off without you. I am proud to call you my student."

Darren could find almost no words to respond to the insanely ginormous compliment that had just been bestowed upon him. But he did manage to blurt out,

"So how'd it go??"

"It was absolutely exquisite." Larten pronounced. "Arra is a delightful dinner guest. We talked very late, she only just left minuites ago. I asked her if she wanted to stay, but Mountain life is not for her."

"Why don't you go with her?"

Larten paused, and looked extremely deep in thought for a moment.

"My place is here." he finally said. "I can simply not imagine myself anywhere but here."

"What's so good about here?" Darren asked with a grin, even though he already knew the answer.

"A small grey beast with a speech impediment, a cocky bald one who believes he is King Shit of the World, his dark and depressive partner in crime who seems very likely of committing homicide against the strange and sparkling one who has a fetish for Dolce & Gabbana, an old fart who is infuriating because he always knows more than you or I, and a senile maniac who is like a father to me, all the mind-boggling contraptions you have brought here, our Escalade in the garage, and a student who is hell-bent on defying everything I say and making life chaotic are precisely what is so good about Vampire Mountain. I love Arra with all my heart and she loves me too, and we plan on meeting for "date night" again in the future, but for now, my heart is content with the life that has fallen upon me." Larten concluded with a toothy smile.

Darren wiped another tear. Damn the sappy Valentine's Day crap!

"I love you too, Mr Crepsley." he choked out, raising his glass. Larten did the same, and Mentor and Student drank pink froth to the sometimes disturbing, often sparkly, and always beautiful celebration known as Valentine's Day.

***

_*FLASHFORWARD, several weeks*_

_Darren had an old family picture in his posession, left over from his human years. _

_Top row, left to right, was his two grandfathers and two uncles. Lower row, L-R: his dad, his mom, the beloved family dog Ruffles, and his sister. And right in the middle of it all was Darren himself, hugging the dog and smiling his face off._

_Now he hung up a new picture beside this one, one that had been very recently taken._

_Top row, L-R: Paris, Seba, Mika, Arrow._

_Lower row, L-R: Larten, Arra, Harkat, and Kurda. And right in the middle of it all was Darren himself, hugging Harkat and smiling his face off._

_**HAPPY VALENTINES DAY **_

* * *

yeee we got all emotional at the end...I was watching the Olympics opening ceremony thing, ok?? IT'S RIGHT HERE IN MY VERY OWN HOMELAND!!!!! its way on the other side of the country from me, but eh, Canada is Canada :)

ps, we dont say Eh that much. and we dont live in igloos, we do wear bikinis in the summer, etc.

Happy Valentines Day from Vampire Mountain and Roxypony Studios International!

*Roxxy,

* * *

& good luck to the other entries :)

ROXY FOR THE WIN. xo.


End file.
